Beer-Batter Cheese Bread

By lorik

Insert the toothpick in a few spots when testing for doneness; it may hit a pocket of cheese, which resembles uncooked batter on the toothpick. Strongly flavored beers make the bread bitter, so mild American lagers like Budweiser work best here.

Ingredients

• Variation:
• 8 ounces Gruyère cheese, 4 ounces shredded and 4 ounces cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (12-ounce) light-bodied beer, such as Budweiser
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• With Smoked Gouda and Bacon
• Substitute Gouda for Gruyere
• 8 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
• Add bacon in step 2 below with gouda

Details

Adapted from cookscountry.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

2. Combine shredded and cubed cheese, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Stir in beer and mix until well combined. Pour into loaf pan, spreading batter to corners. Drizzle melted butter evenly over top of batter.

3. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool bread in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Cool completely and slice as desired. (Although this bread can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, after the second day the bread is best toasted.)